Sainz penalized post-race for Piastri clash in Miami

Carlos Sainz has been demoted to fifth place in the Miami Grand Prix for causing a collision with Oscar Piastri.

The Ferrari driver was involved in a robust fight with Piastri for a number of laps as they battled over fourth place, with the stewards opting to take no further action when the McLaren pushed Sainz wide defending at Turn 11. Sainz finally managed to get through into the Turn 17 hairpin but appeared to lose control of the rear and hit Piastri’s front left corner, with the stewards deeming the contact worthy of a penalty.

“It was clear to us that car No. 55 was to blame for the collision,” the stewards’ decision read. “In the overtake attempt, car No. 55 braked late, missed the apex and in the process lost the rear, with the resulting collision. Although car No. 81 was trying to turn in to counter the overtaking attempt, car No. 81 gave sufficient room to car No. 55.

“In the circumstances, we find car No. 55 to be predominantly to blame for the collision.

“In this case, we took into account, as mitigating factors, the fact that but for the slight loss of control of the rear by car No. 55, the collision would likely not have happened and it would have been hard but good racing. The standard penalty for a collision is 10s with two penalty points. In light of the mitigating circumstances, we therefore impose a 5s time penalty with one penalty point.”

The penalty drops Sainz behind Sergio Perez in the final classification, with Lewis Hamilton remaining sixth but just 0.1s behind Sainz after the time addition.